Wednesday, August 9, 2017

With the Reforming the
Energy Vision (REV) strategy, the State of New York has established itself
as a leader in re-thinking how electric utilities can transform to better serve
customers now and in the future. In 2015, when the New York Public Service
Commission (PSC) initiated its REV proceeding, the primary focus was on
fundamental changes to the ways that utilities provide distribution services.

Earlier this year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo dramatically
expanded REV, and while the utility issues are still central to the strategy,
it has now become an umbrella term for all of the energy initiatives of the
State of New York – currently 41 different programs and initiatives across the
state, including projects like offshore wind generation. Among the primary
goals, REV aims broadly to help consumers make informed decisions, protect the
environment, create new jobs and economic opportunities and spur development of
new energy products and services.

With this background in mind, the Smart Grid Consumer
Collaborative (SGCC) partnered with the New
York State Smart Grid Consortium (NYSSGC), a public-private partnership
that promotes the implementation of a safe, secure and reliable smart grid in
New York, to determine the impact of REV, grid modernization and Advance
Metering Infrastructure (AMI) deployment on New Yorkers’ awareness of and
attitudes toward important energy issues.

As part of SGCC’s “Consumer Pulse and Market Segmentation
Study – Wave 6”, SGCC and NYSSGC surveyed over 700 New Yorkers via online
panel. The results of the surveying were released in July as the “New York
Consumer Pulse Study”, a comprehensive look at New Yorker’s awareness and
interest in today’s key energy technologies, policies, programs and services,
including community solar, smart meters, grid modernization, electric vehicles
and clean energy expansion. Here are a few of the standout findings from the
report.

Support for REV

The “New York Consumer Pulse Study” highlighted an
interesting disparity between the awareness and support of REV. The survey
found that only 16 percent of New Yorkers are aware that their state is
undertaking a grid modernization effort that includes developing smart grid and
smart meter infrastructure, and only one-in-five New Yorkers say that they’re
aware of REV. Just three percent state that they have visited REV’s website.

Despite this, half of New Yorkers stated that they would
be interested in learning more about REV, and after the REV goals were listed
for the survey respondents, 56 percent stated that they were supportive of the
goals. There is some variation in the state, however; for nearly all of the
above questions, Downstate New Yorkers (those living in the Bronx, Manhattan
and Staten Island) report being notably more aware and more supportive.

Support for clean
energy and affordability

The “New York Consumer Pulse Study” also investigated
support for clean energy investment and expansion across the State of New York.
Unlike support for REV, which just cracked 50 percent of respondents, New
Yorkers are clear about their support for clean energy investment – regardless
of the region of the state. Nearly 80 percent of all New Yorkers support
investments in clean energy, and 85 percent of Downstate residents support
these efforts. Two-thirds of Downstate New Yorkers also believe that the State
of New York should do more to incentivize electric vehicles, and half of all
New Yorkers believe the state should promote the development of microgrids.

In addition to the questions on clean energy, the survey
also asked respondents about support for energy affordability. A convincing
majority (71 percent) of New Yorkers believe that the State of New York should
do more to make energy more affordable for lower-income residents. In the
Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan, 82 percent of residents believe this.

Consumer awareness
of the smart grid

In the sixth wave of “Consumer Pulse and Market
Segmentation Study”, published in late May, we found that 72 percent of
consumers were aware of smart meters and 70 percent were aware of the smart
grid. Notably, this was the first time in six studies, dating back to 2011,
that a majority of consumers were aware of smart meters and the smart grid.

In New York, consumer awareness of the smart grid and
smart meters is slightly lower, but still well above the majority, at 68 and 65
percent, respectively. While in the national sample more consumers were aware
of smart meters than the smart grid, New Yorkers are slightly more aware of the
smart grid. Unlike many parts of the country, smart meters are only recently
being introduced throughout New York, making the stated level awareness
somewhat impressive despite it being lower than the national average. So far,
only certain customers in the service territories of Avangrid and Consolidated
Edison have had smart meters installed.

Conclusion

While consumer awareness in the State of New York seem to
be, for the time at least, lagging somewhat behind Governor Cuomo’s
forward-thinking initiatives, many New Yorkers, especially those Downstate, are
generally supportive of advancements and investments in smart metering, the
smart grid and renewable energy. This landscape creates a multitude of
opportunities for energy industry stakeholders in New York for consumer
education and, ultimately, participation. For more information about New
Yorkers and their energy-related awareness, attitudes and preferences, download
a complimentary copy of the “New York Consumer Pulse Study” here.

To learn more about
the consumer benefits of the smart grid and related technologies and how energy
industry stakeholders are moving the needle on realizing these promised
benefits, sign up for our Sept. 21 Peer Connect Webinar.

About Me

I am the President & CEO of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative. Before coming to SECC, I worked for Georgia Tech, where I focused on smart grid research projects and helped to submit almost $10 million in grants to ARPA-E and DOE. Before that, I served as the Executive Director for the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club where I focused on energy policy and programs. I also served for two years on the Board of the Smart Grid Society for the Technology Association of Georgia.